Uber has been among many other ridesharing services, which have failed to act promptly to the incidents of sexual assault and other crimes related to such a platform. The ridesharing company has recently released its much-anticipated first security review report. The report has revealed that the company has received around 5981 cases of sexual abuse along with other crimes in the last two years. There have been 464 cases of rape out of 5981 assault cases. As per the security report, sexual assault has caused 19 deaths during 2017 and 2018. The figures are quite disturbing for the people who are dependent on these rides for their day-to-day affairs.
However, Uber has continued to ponder the figures of sexual assault cases as a percentage of total rides. The company has said that 99.9 percent of rides from the start go successful without any incident. They have also tried to contextualize the number of physical assaults by comparing the national rate of such crimes. The security review report highlights the information regarding the reporting party and the accused party. The report has claimed that riders account for 45 percent of physical assaults on the accused party. The report has mentioned that even drivers have the right to talk about experiences and the company should support them. Around 92 percent of rape sufferers have been riders and 7 percent of victims have been drivers. Less than 1 percent of gender minorities have also been rape victims during the Uber ride. It is uncertain whether the reporting parties were victims or not in four other types of sexual abuse like non-consensual kissing, inappropriate touching, and attempted rape.
The company has said that it is bringing in In-app safety buttons and other changes in the whole Uber ride experience. Uber has also stepped up to share the names of deactivated drivers with other platforms as well, so they will not be able to pick up the passengers. The company will expand its sexual misconduct education training for drivers in association with RAINN. Uber will create a survivor support hotline as well, which will provide specialized support to the survivors.
